If Romeo wore sneakers...

Chapter 46: Mom? /Cordelia

        The days crept by as December fourteenth came closer like an animal stalking it's prey. All of my emotions built up inside me as I packed my suitcase for the two day hotel stay with Romeo.

        My mother changed my whole life in one day. I didn't know whether to hate her, or pity her for her stupidity. I loathed the fact that a mother could do such a thing to her child, to inject her with the toxin of impishness. 

        I seem to be drowning in emotion, my lungs burning with anticipation, my arms and hands clawing for the surface, the light, the freedom, the escape from the density and the darkness. There were so many thoughts and questions running through my mind. Questions  that I don't know if I can answer, nor anyone else for that matter. 

        I walk outside and hand Romeo my pink suitcase. He kisses my cheek and opens the car door for me. I climb inside and look towards the window were I see Dave sitting sorrowfully on the sill of the frame. He insisted on coming with us.  I had to scold him again just before coming outside. He offered to give us enough money for two hotel rooms, joint ones even, but I told him one room would be fine. 

        So Dave booked the room, and of course, it had two beds. 

"Ready?" Romeo asks as he shuts the bag door with our luggage.

"I'm all set." I say smiling nervously.

        Romeo nods and starts the car, for awhile we just sit in silence, no music, no small talk, just quiet. Eventually the scenery starts to blur together. Trees, fields, and hills all became blobs of green. Roadside stands and people who sell fruit and crops from the back of their trucks became obsolete. My life feels like a rug being ripped underneath me and I just can't get a grip. 

        Romeo must sense my distress because he takes my hand in his. I turn to him and smile, to my surprise he turns on the radio, and just, starts singing. Romeo starts singing from the top of his lungs. I can't help but laugh. 

        He actually has a lovely voice, you know, when he tries. His veins in his forehead and neck throb with emotion when he sings. His pink lips open and close with the words to the song like they were made for him. He turns to me and smiles as he stumbles over lyrics that he doesn't know. His jaw twinges and his light stubble makes him look like he is twenty something. 

        If you look up the word "Romeo" in the dictionary, you will see that it is a noun and it states Any man who is preoccupied with or has a reputation for amatory success with women. I don't know if this is true, if he has success with women, but for me personally, I think this name suits him. I really do love this boy. When I look into his baby blue eyes, I tend to look at nothing else. I occasionally catch my reflection in his gaze and wonder how on Earth I could compare to this man, why a person of his beauty could choose me. 

        When I think he could get any better it does. He stops singing and smiles. I watch in awe as he pops open the armrest and pulls out, you guessed it, a single long stemmed white rose.

"Oh Romeo you shouldn't have." I say pulling the delicate flower to my nose.

"I know, I'm just that awesome." Romeo said smiling.

        I roll my eyes as I turn to him. I so desperately wonder what the clock work behind his skull is thinking. What words are desperately fighting their way out?

"Do you ever get scared of being alone?" I ask.

He turns to me his face full of confusion but laced with understanding. "I used to." He says. "I used to feel alone. I actually used to not feel anything."